Susie Amy
Susie Amy (born 17 April 1981) is an English actress and model. She is best known for her role as Chardonnay Lane-Pascoe in the ITV series Footballers' Wives. Amy has also appeared in films Modigliani, La Femme Musketeer and House of 9. Early life Susie Amy was born on 17 April 1981 to Ron Amy, OBE, the former chairman of the National Association of Pension Funds and Evelyn Amy, a primary school teacher. Her parents later divorced, and her father eventually remarried. Amy has a sister, Lynn, who is a highly regarded geneticist. Amy was brought up in Surrey and attended Sir William Perkins's School in Chertsey, but later switched to Strode's College. Acting career In 1999, she deferred a place at university to pursue her dream of a performing career. Initially, this involved working as a photographic and fashion model, TV and film extra, and magician's assistant. This then led to a number of minor stage roles. While she was working on the Royal National Theatre production of Sharman McDonald's After Juliet, Amy was spotted by an agent, and soon had her first roles on television. In 2001, she appeared in television series Dark Realm and My Family, and then in the 2002 television film Sirens. In 2001, Amy was cast as Chardonnay Lane-Pascoe in the ITV series Footballers' Wives, which made her a household name and earned her the New TV Talent Award by the Television and Radio Industries Club. She was voted out as number 74 on the FHM list of 100 Sexiest Women in the World in 2002, and as number 63 in 2003. Along with Katharine Monaghan and Zöe Lucker, Amy appeared on the FHM cover for February 2003. She starred Footballers' Wives from 2002 to 2004. In 2004, Amy was chosen for the lead role of Valentine D'Artagnan in the Hallmark Channel film La Femme Musketeer, starring alongside Michael York, Gérard Depardieu and Nastassja Kinski. For the role she had to train in martial arts, fencing and horse riding, which she is said to have loved. The same year, she portrayed Beatrice Hastings in Modigliani, which starred Andy García. In 2005, Amy appeared in films House of 9, directed by Dennis Hopper, and Dead Fish, and worked on Bill Kenwright's stage production of Wait Until Dark. Amy had episode roles in television series Hotel Babylon, The Royal and Doctors in 2006. In 2007, she filmed motion picture Two Families, appeared in the BBC series New Street Law, and portrayed Lindsey Gordon in the three episodes of Coronation Street. Amy then acted in the 2008 series Echo Beach, which was cancelled after twelve episodes. Her most recent projects include films Lesbian Vampire Killers (2009), Psych 9 (2010), Pimp (2010) and Bonded by Blood (2010), and a stage production of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Nile (2012). Other work Susie was a judge in Dancing on Ice: The Tour at the Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield. In 2010, she participated in the outdoor series 71 Degrees North, a challenge show set in Norway. Challenges included under-ice swimming and living in conditions up to -30 degrees. She came the third the series, losing out to Gavin Henson and Marcus Patrick in the final. On 22 December 2010, Susie appeared in Celebrity Come Dine with me Christmas Special, competing against actor and musician Goldie, singer Tony Christie, and former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis for a prize of £1,000, which went to charity. She came joint second with Christie, behind winner Ellis. In September 2011, Susie started a beauty blog www.blusherandblogging.com She has also been a semi-regular panelist on the topical discussion series The Wright Stuff. Filmography Awards and nominations Trivia * When she was at primary school, one of her fellow students was TV presenter Kirsty Gallacher. * Is friends with fellow actress Kelly Brook. Quotes * I don't see myself as wildly ambitious. I just want to do varied work that enables me to grow as an actress and at some point I would like to have children. That is important to me but not something I want to rush, because children are a lifelong commitment and before that there are so many more adventures to be enjoyed. * I just fell in love with Mickey Rourke when he was in Nine and a Half Weeks. People laugh whenever I tell them that. * You couldn't embarrass my dad if you tried, and he was amazing when glamour pictures of me taken on the set of Footballers' Wives ended up on the front page of the Daily Star. He was running this huge company at the time and some of the workers had my picture up as a joke. He didn't bat an eyelid. I am very proud of both my parents. It was incredible when my father was awarded the OBE. * I think I have been very lucky to have worked on such different projects with so many great actors. Dennis Hopper was amazing, Andy Garcia was the perfect gentleman, and Gérard Depardieu was just, well, very eccentric. * One of the things I like best about my work is the physical challenges that have come with it, such as learning martial arts and sword fighting and bareback riding. Nothing frightens me, but I do love frightening other people. * I did all kinds of things when I was starting out, from catalogue modelling to being an extra in the background of a movie scene. When I was 19, I even spent several months working as a magician's assistant. Every night, I was disappearing and appearing, having swords stuck through me from all angles, floating twenty feet off the ground, and having my head sliced off by a really realistic-looking guillotine. And yes, I also got sawed in half too. * Being a magician's assistant was hard work, but a lot of fun and I really enjoyed doing it. Because I love physical challenges and scaring people, I especially loved all of the big scary illusions like the guillotine and being sawed in half. The sawing in half was a bit scary because he used a chainsaw to cut me in half. But it was the guillotine that really used to scare people because, when the blade dropped, they'd see my head actually drop into the basket. References External links *